The Four-Pound Dachshund, the Fearful Plaintiff, and the $130,000 Verdict (Reversed on Appeal)

Cindy Scott was the manager of Penny Pinchers, a discount grocery store located in West Point, Mississippi. She was also the owner of a four-month-old daschund puppy named Sophie, which weighed four pounds and one ounce. Scott took Sophie to work with her every day. She set up a piece of peg board to keep Sophie contained in the area behind the checkout counter. Scott testified that this was to protect Sophie from the customers because Sophie was such a tiny dog.

On August 16, 2006, Outlaw entered Penny Pinchers. She said hello to Scott, who was having a conversation with Anita Reeves, an employee, and Ivy Mann, a customer. Outlaw testified that she started walking down an aisle when she heard a dog bark. Because she is terrified of dogs, she started running down the aisle toward the back of the store. She said that she could hear the claws of the dog hit the floor as the dog chased her down the aisle. When she turned to see how close the dog was, she ran into a freezer at the back of the store. She then tried to jump on top of the freezer to get away from the dog.

Outlaw testified that Scott picked up the dog and told Outlaw that the dog would not hurt her. When Outlaw saw how small the dog was, she began to laugh and tell Scott about her extreme fear of dogs. Outlaw then went on with her shopping….

Outlaw had extensive health problems before this incident. She had Perthes Disease as a child, a condition that caused severe hip problems. She also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. She had a total replacement of the left hip in 1995. Because the prosthetic device used in the hip replacement only lasts between ten to fifteen years, Outlaw underwent a revision surgery in 2005. Again, that prosthetic device was estimated to last from ten to fifteen years; however, Outlaw had to have a second revision surgery in 2006 following her collision with the freezer at Penny Pinchers.

It was undisputed that, as a customer of Penny Pinchers, Outlaw was classified as a business invitee. A business owner owes a business invitee a duty of ordinary care to keep the business premises in a reasonably safe condition. The owner has a duty to warn invitees of dangerous conditions that are not apparent to the invitee, of which the owner or occupier knows or through the exercise of reasonable care should know. However, the owner is not an insurer against all injuries that may occur on the premises….

Thus, … Penny Pinchers had a duty to warn Outlaw of any dangerous conditions of which it knew or should have known. However, implicit in that duty is that a dangerous condition must exist…. Further, the owner “is not required to keep the premises absolutely safe, or in such a condition that no accident could possibly happen to a customer.” “The owner is merely required to anticipate a result that is more apt to happen than not to happen, that is to say he must anticipate only such a result as is reasonably foreseeable as a probable consequence of his act.” …

While this is not a traditional “dog-bite” case, we find it instructive that the supreme court has held that dogs are not dangerous per se. To impose liability on a dog owner for personal injuries caused by the dog, “there [must] be some proof that the animal has exhibited some dangerous propensity or disposition prior to the attack complained of, and, moreover, it must be shown that the owner knew or reasonably should have known of this propensity or disposition and reasonably should have foreseen that the animal was likely to attack someone.”

Considering the specific facts of this case, even in a light most favorable to Outlaw, we find no proof that Sophie created a dangerous condition at Penny Pinchers. There was no proof that Sophie had previously exhibited any of the behaviors that Outlaw alleged. Scott took Sophie with her to Penny Pinchers on a daily basis. Sophie had never barked or chased any of the other customers. In fact, there was no proof that any other customer had a problem with Sophie.

We must also consider that Sophie was a four-pound puppy at the time of the incident. Outlaw admitted that, when she heard the bark, she never turned to look at the dog. Instead, she started running toward the back of the store. She further admitted that she began to laugh when she finally saw that such a small dog had caused her to run into the freezer. While we agree with Outlaw that it is possible that the presence of a dog inside a grocery store could create a dangerous condition, the facts that she presented at trial do not prove that a dangerous condition existed here.

We acknowledge Outlaw’s extreme fear of dogs. However, we cannot say that it was reasonable for Penny Pinchers to anticipate that anyone, even someone with a great fear of dogs, would have such a reaction to Sophie’s presence in the store. “The invitee is required to use in the interest of his own safety that degree of care and prudence which a person of ordinary intelligence would exercise under the same or similar circumstances.” Penny Pinchers was not required to protect Outlaw from any possible injury, but only those injuries that were a foreseeable result of Penny Pinchers’ action of allowing a four-pound puppy to be present in the store….

The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and judgment is rendered in favor of Penny Pinchers.